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Showing posts from March, 2016

Album Review : Alick Macheso - Tsoka Dzerwendo

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Did an overview of the album a week ago. This is an album that needs time before any conclusions must be made. Judging by Macheso's release schedule each album get about 2 years before talk of another album surface, so till 2017 this is the album we will be listening to. Its a daunting task asking the urban artists to give a us one album worth 2 years, its nearly impossible. Macheso however has been doing that since the record breaking  Simbaradzo ( Best Selling album in Zim History ) in 1998, and there is no doubt to his ability of releasing timeless albums and tracks. With the poor performance of his last album and other personal scandals he has to show Zimbos he still got the touch that made him a National and Sub Saharan Legend. So the track consists of 6 tracks and below is a track by track review. 1) Baba This is aimed at those fathers and fathers to be who run away from parental duties. There are a lot of single mothers in Zimbabwe. Many guys impregnate and dis

Dice ft Cal_Vin - RAD (Official Video)

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Dice is a Harare based female rappers. She entered the music scene about 10 yrs ago with the hit  Chimoko featuring Roki then she disappeared from the music scene. After a long long sabbatical break she decided to return to music. Reviewed her track Who Am I last year ( Who Am I review ).  The track in question RAD was released last year. Its a nice track and it received some decent airplay on radio. The track features reigning King on Hip Hop Dat Luveve Boy Cal_Vin. Personally was a fan of the track since last year. The roughness of the instrumental appealed to me. Dice did a great job on her verses. Cal_Vin murdered his verse, further probing why he is at the top. In overall it's still a good track. Their combination worked quite well. The video was made by Invision Studios the guys behind MMT's 2013 anthem  Zvidhori . Unlike the Zvidhori all star remix video they pulled the correct strings in terms of directing. This video follows the wave of weird scary videos

Track Review : Dutch ft Pelo - Have It all

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Dutch is one of the finest Zim producers. He is not the always in you face type of producer, he is quiet most of the time and lets his music do the talking. If you have been following me for some time you will know how crazy I am of the Titans EP. He collaborated with Simba Tagz on that Project and the end product is one of the best local hip hop projects in recent years. He has finally returned from his sabbatical break with a new jam titled Have It All featuring Pelo. So how does the rack fare??? Michael "Dutch" Kanyama himself was in charge of the production and he did a splendid job. The instrumental is sounding very good, its well made. Love the ambient nature of the track. Its not an overly complicated instrumental but it has a wavy and dreamy feel to it that hits the right spots. I'm loving it, great work on the production. This is the a song for all the dreamers out there. Those that will keep on working till they Have It All . Pelo is saying I will ke

Video Review: Tytan & Ammara Brown - Mukoko (Official Video)

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We had just entered 2016 and still trying to figure out which tracks and artists to look out for when Tytan and Ammara hit us with Mukoko . Loved the track from the first listen ( Mukoko track Review ) andso did many Zimbos. Mukoko  earned the top spot for the month of January ( Top Tracks of January ). From the word go I was already wishing and waiting for the visuals, way before they announced they will be making them. Imagine my joy when I heard they were making the visuals. The video was directed by Mr Elders Films and they did a great job. The song is about flirting and seduction, the video tried its best to flirt and seduce us. Ammara was more seductive (well she is always sexy), Tytan uhhhm not so much.....anyway am a guy so probably i'm biased, will leave the ladies to decide on that.  The dances are well choreographed, Ammara is an exceptional dancer and she proved that here. The video quality and setting is awesome. Love it. Tinopona Katsande and the other girl (

Adonis Mudarikiri - Murimutsvene

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Adonis is a Zim RnB artists based in Johannesburg in South Africa. This is my first time hearing about him, bumped across this track when I was browsing soundcloud for any worthy local tracks. Judging by his soundcloud profile it seems he sing most about love, well for an RnB artists its not shocking. On his recent and most current track he switched to gospel. It's always good to give thanks to the Lord for all that he keeps blessing you with. The track is well produced, it has a modern feel to it. He kept his RnB feel and vibe and this song oozes that RnB chill factor. Great work on the production. This track is about giving all the glory to the Almighty. Adonis is just worshiping on this track. Its a track one sings as thanksgiving for all the good things the Lord has done in their life. I believe when Adonis wrote this song, he was in a thanksgiving mood, he was giving Jehovah all the glory for his life and all that he has. Beautiful track. He gave a great perfomance

Celscius Wayne - Baby Randoda (Official Video)

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Celscius is definitely my favourite dancehall artists currently. Love his style, his unmatched vocal ability and how he stands up for Norton his hometown. He won best Vocalist at the Zim Dancehall Awards 2015 and nearly everyone will agree that it was well deserved. Believed he was gonna scoop the best conscious track with Chiedza but Seh Calaz took the award with Amai . He released the video to Baby Randoda yesterday and thought of sharing it with fellow Zimbos. It was made by Black Magic Productions and they did a great job. Its a short and nice video. Love the directing and simple to follow story line. Quality and video setting is on point. Personally am loving the video. Check it out below: What are your thoughts on the video??? Proud_Zimbo

Album Overview : Alick Macheso - Tsoka Dzerwendo

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The legendary guitar maestro is back with a new offering, and  a lot of hype was created for this album. The sponsors rilly dug deep to make this album a success, they tied all loose ends, promotion wise, distribution wise. Zimbabweans have witnessed what happens when big companies and sponsors come together. The album regardless of it being musically great of deficient the sponsors and companies made sure that it will be a commercial success. The sales from the first day testify to that, read somewhere that over 100 000 units were sold around the country and that is huuuuge. Now to the music. Macheso's last album Kwatakabva Mitunhu was a major disaster. Up to today I have never fully listened to one track from that album, it was badly timed, very very badly timed. He released the Album when Sulu's  Syllabus   ( Sean Timba to be specific) was destroying every music chart, every radio station, and every speaker in the country. It was ill timed, the album stood no chance.

EP Review : Courtney Antipas - Back To Basics EP

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With Easter almost upon us was expecting an influx on Gospel tracks but it was looking a bit gloom and when it seemed nothing was gonna come out Courtney Antipas gave us some blessings with the Back To Basics EP. Courtney is the finest Christian Rapper in the country and most probably Africa as a whole, his message is always on point and in terms of rapping ability, he can match the best secular rappers out there. For Christians like me, Easter is a very special holiday. Jesus Christ died for us and because of that we no longer are measured or weighed according to the law but we now live by Grace. Romans 10 v 4. Despite all our shortcomings as humans we now have the chance to be saved and be righteous before the Lord through Jesus Christ. So back to the music, how does the EP fare?? The EP consists of 5 tracks, and below is a track by track review: 1) Alpha and Omega ft Ruyonga The instrumental has a certain roughness to it that makes the track daring. Its a bit diffe

5 Local Tracks You Must Be Listening To

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Most people only concentrate on music that is already popular or tracks by popular artists and this creates a major challenge for upcoming artists. However listening to new artists can be a real pain because some of the projects are just awful, so the masses are justified for their popular selections. Despite the perception that new artists are below par  there are some really good new guys out there and its up to people like me who listen a wide range of music to discover and help promote those unknown gems. Sometimes its not that the artist is new or upcoming but because of the genre they sing the masses will quickly disregard them and their music, when you get those " I know that person is an artist but I have no idea what they sing .." kind of answers So below is a list of 5 tracks you've probably never heard or given much attention to but you should definitely take a listen to: 1) Djembe Monks ft X Mile - Chamukeke This tribal house outfit from Bulawayo is

Diary Page 2: Local Songs I Listen to When I'm Feeling Down

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Whenever am stressed or feeling down I listen to music. Music is my feel good drug and the best thing about music is that there are no side effects. So there are certain tracks I listen to which always help uplift my mood, to instill hope & to give me strength. The list is not necessarily a gospel list as some may already assume its quite diverse. So below are 10 local tracks that I use whenever am down and to this day they work 100%. Hopefully they can work for you to. 1) Tembalami - Mhanya This track is from Tembalami's current and his best album to date; Faith Aid Kit which was released in 2013. This album is definitely a masterpiece, at its core its about repairing that broken soul so the whole album works when your feeling down. I chose Mhanya because every time I feel like what am aiming for in life is impossible this song gives me strength. The track urges me to keep on moving and put my trust in the Lord. 2) Janet Manyowa - Ndomira Pamuri From her d

Calvin - And So It Begins #FreeBarsFriday

The King of Hip Hop Cal_Vin has resumed his Free Bars Friday episodes. A lot of stuff was happening the past two months; the Jnr Brown  beef and winning the ZIMA Best Hip Hop award and he had to pause the Free Bars Friday episodes. He is now back again and I have to say he is back with a bang. The Freestyle addresses all the issues that has been happening the past couple of months. He is telling his fans that he is back and he is here to stay. His rap game was on steroids here, best freestyle I've heard from him. The freestyle is definitely gonna offend a couple of people though. Personally the Urban Grooves diss line kinda offended me, because the Urban Groves Movement created the platform/foundation that all these urban genres are based on. Before the movement Zimbos did not tolerate urban music, that movement changed the perception of Zimbos. In its 8+ years the Urban Grooves Movement has done more than more artists are willing to acknowledge. I believe artists must not

Miss V Candy, Nyanda, Gigi Lamayne & Kat Dahlia - Mayhem

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When you ask random people to mention any super collaboration they know of, only a few will mention an all female collaboration ( ask the person next to you and see for yourself ). These ladies here are aiming to change that answer, they want to cause Mayhem and make sure you that every time you think of having a good time  Mayhem is the first song on the playlist. Its quite nice to have so much diversity on a single track; Miss V Candy (Zimbabwe), Nyanda (Jamaica), Gigi Lamayne (South Africa) and Kat Dahlia (USA). Mayhem exists to get us dancing, it's a fusion of the different vibes these ladies possess. Its an uptempo track with a bit of everything; Nyanda gave the track a nice dancehall feel, Gigi gave us some dope bars..........!! Unfortunately had a busy day and i'm lazy to do a full in-depth review, so will leave that to you guys. Listen to the Mayhem :  Personally I like the track, don't know about you !! what are your thoughts??Before I sign out

Afrodizzay - I Dunno

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During my random listening session on soundcloud came across this song. The Oskid Pro tag convinced me to listen to the track ( Oskid is on a roll ) and I was blown away. This was my first time hearing about Afrodizzay. I enjoyed the track and decided that my fellow Zimbos must know about this track. Oskid did a great job on the production. Oskid has this signature bass line, that is setting him apart from other producers. He is definitely changing the way Zimbos produce their music. Love the bass line.  This is a song one sings when someone is driving them crazy. When you find that girl that your cannot seem to get out of your mind. Simple and lovely. Afrodizzay delivered a great perfomance on this track. Love the feel of the track. Afrodizzay managed to blend with the beat in a excellent way, you cant help but do the slow dance whilst listening to this track. He sounds like Burna Boy in some parts though. This is a great track....perfect for that slow dance between you a

Track Review : Trevor Dongo - Short of Words/Mashoko Apera

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The King of RnB is back with a new track. Trevor D has been on top of his game since he released Ndozviita Sei more than 6 years ago. In terms of love songs Trevor is one of the best in Zim, his lyrics are always on point, no unnecessary, flashy or cheesy lines, only Alexio Kawara can give Trevor a real challenge when it comes to love songs. Trevor is also a superb vocalist, one of the best in local music. Personally I don't ever recall hearing a boring song from Trevor, he always nails it, so I expected nothing but a great jam with this new track....so lets see how it fares. Produced by Lazzie T at Big Tinx records. The production is standard, the track is sounding very good. The song has a format that was most used during the Urban Grooves Movement days, great keyboard work on top of a uptempo kind of beat which makes the listener rock from side to side. Despite an influx of many American sounding instrumentals, when it comes to Zimbabwe this is the feel and arrangement t

Diary Page 1: So Finally went to a Mokoomba Show and Bryan K was also there.!!!!

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Been a fan of Mokoomba for some time now, but had never been to their show. Financial and geographical challenges were the major players in ensuring my absence at their shows. Was introduced to these guys by Power Fm popular presenter Dj Scott, a couple of years back he used to play these guys a lot on his show, mostly the track Mese Mese which they worked with Dutch Dj/Producer Gregor Salto. Since then I have been following them. Mokoomba was getting much love from the international community but many Zimbo's did not even know about them. Then about two years back they started performing in Harare, a move which I highly support  and because of that their Zim  fan-base is growing day by day. When I heard they are performing at the Micasa Album Launch, I was excited, my schedule was open and I could actually go. Also to make the night more worth it Bryan Kadengu was also performing there. Have grown quite fond of Bryan over the past year, his music has won me over. Am a

Album Review : Freeman - Mangoma Ihobho

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There are many dancehall products out there, you cannot even keep up with the releases. Among the thousands of tracks Freeman's new album managed to get my attention. Personally have been a big Freeman fan since the Ndomira Semukono days. I like his style, image and consistency. Not counting the new album he has 3 publicly know albums VaBeliver (2012), New Chapta (2013) and Varidzi Vezvinhu (2014). The first two albums were amazing, still enjoy the albums to date. Varidzi Vezvhinhu on the other hand is just plain average according to me. Despite the album not performing well Freeman remains the most consistent dancehall artist in Zim, he may not be vying for the King of Dancehall throne or realeasing chart breaking hits all the time but he consistently and continuously release good songs. Since he entered the game he is always selected among the top 10 of dancehall artists by Dancehall fans. Such consistency has led to his large and faithful fan base. So now he has released a

Mixtape Review : Brythreesixty - Purple Mars

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Brythreesixty has finally released his much publicized Purple Mars Mixtape. 2016 is more like a do or die year for him. He has to show if he can compete with the best and in a year dubbed by many as the Year of Zim Hip Hop he is gonna have to put in more work than before. So how does Purple Mars fare?? Will be reviewing my top 4 tracks from the Purple Mars Mixtape and will leave  the others for you the fans and readers to rate!! God Feeling ( Sikelela ) ft J.S.K.X.X.V.I The first thing you hear is the nice laid instrumental which am loving. God Feeling is about feeling like a boss regardless of the current challenges and putting your trust in God. Success starts from within and this track is about having a winner's mentality. In terms of the verses both the guys were in beast mode and they gave superb verses. Was enjoying the track till the last Nkosi Sikelela chant in the end, it sounded as if it's not at the same wave length as the rest of the track, better mixing

EP Review : Verseless - Home EP.

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Came to know about Verseless last year when I bumped onto his track Simba ft Aura The Poet. For some time I  labelled him as a house producer and then he corrected me. Verseless is more than just House music, he is quite versatile. His sound is experimental to say the least, its an acquired taste. If you tired and fed up with conventional music he is the guy to listen to and also the Monkey Nuts. Verseless's music sounds amazing but I always find it difficult to pin a single genre for quite a number of his tracks, the guy does not want to be labelled and given limits...he is a free spirit.  So when I heard he got a new project I was anxious to see which world Verseless will be transporting us to this time around. The new EP is called Home. So lets dive in and see what in store for us. Home consists of 4 tracks and below is a track by track review: 1) Freedom : This track has a serious deep house feel. Its laced with an enchanting ambiance sound and vibe. This is